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Earthquake in Solomon Islands triggered Tsunami Alerts in the South Pacific

An 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit Solomon Islands that created a small tsunami on Wednesday and triggered tsunami warnings for many island nations of the South Pacific.

Local officials in Solomon Islands reported two waves that struck the western side of Santa Cruz Island, resulting to 50 damaged homes and properties. There were no reports of casualties but villagers had evacuated to a higher ground as a precaution.

The center of the earthquake was situated some 360 miles east-southeast of Honiara, Solomon Islands’ capital, and was reported to be 3.6 miles deep.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center at first issued a tsunami warning for many countries in the area, including Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Kosrae, Wallis, Kiribati, Futuna, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Tuvalu. There is also a tsunami watch for American Samoa, New Zealand, Philippines and Eastern Indonesia but the alerts were called off as the period of danger passed.

Last Wednesday, January 30, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit Chile. The quake was strong enough to cause scattered items at grocery stores and broke windows in many homes in Vallenar, Copiapo and other nearby cities. But the country’s Emergency Office reported minimal damages to the infrastructure and no injuries.

Disasters like an earthquake in one country can also affect nearby countries. A calamity in one place can spread in other places, unless it’s contained. This is the same for blood shortages. We are experiencing blood shortages in many parts of the world now because there are only few regular blood donors left. Blood shortages can become a calamity if not for regular blood donors. We are calling the attention of more eligible blood donors out there to start rolling up their sleeves.

Natural calamities are one of the reasons why people can’t donate blood. Just last week, deadly tornadoes battered most of Georgia and Tennessee, and affected neighboring states in the US. And this week, warnings of earthquakes and tsunamis threaten the Polynesia. Having sufficient blood supplies in hospitals is extremely important; let’s not wait for natural calamities to strike before we take the initiative to give the gift of life.